Bmc Med
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HIV-associated immune defects inhibit tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, promote development of extrapulmonary TB and paucibacillary pulmonary TB cases with atypical radiographic features, and increase TB relapse rates. We therefore assessed the diagnostic performance of a novel assay that directly quantitates serum levels of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) virulence factor 10-kDa culture filtrate protein (CFP-10) to overcome limitations associated with detecting Mtb bacilli in sputum or tissue biopsies. ⋯ Quantitation of the Mtb virulence factor CFP-10 in serum samples of HIV-infected subjects diagnosed active TB cases with high sensitivity and specificity and detected cases missed by the gold standard of Mtb culture. These results suggest that serum CFP-10 quantitation holds great promise for the rapid diagnosis of suspected TB cases in patients who are HIV-infected.
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Comparative efficacy and safety of second-line treatments for advanced non-small cell lung cancer with wild-type or unknown status for epidermal growth factor receptor: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Docetaxel, pemetrexed, erlotinib, and gefitinib are recommended as second-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with wild-type or unknown status for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). However, the number of published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on this topic is increasing. Our objective was to assess the comparative effectiveness and tolerability of all second-line treatments for advanced NSCLC with wild-type or unknown status for EGFR by a systematic review and network meta-analysis. ⋯ Nivolumab, pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, and pemetrexed plus erlotinib may be the most effective second-line treatments for NSCLC in terms of OS. The four recommended treatments seem to have relatively poor performance. However, the impact on life expectancy of immunotherapy versus other treatments should be further explored by future analyses, and more trials comparing the novel treatments are needed to reduce uncertainty in these results.
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The use of early morning sputum samples (EMS) to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) can result in treatment delay given the need for the patient to return to the clinic with the EMS, increasing the chance of patients being lost during their diagnostic workup. However, there is little evidence to support the superiority of EMS over spot sputum samples. In this new analysis of the REMoxTB study, we compare the diagnostic accuracy of EMS with spot samples for identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis pre- and post-treatment. ⋯ Our data do not support the hypothesis that EMS samples are superior to spot sputum samples in a clinical trial of patients with smear positive pulmonary TB. Observed small differences in mycobacterial burden are of uncertain significance and EMS samples do not detect post-treatment positives any sooner than spot samples.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomised trial of the influence of racial stereotype bias on examiners' scores, feedback and recollections in undergraduate clinical exams.
Asian medical students and doctors receive lower scores on average than their white counterparts in examinations in the UK and internationally (a phenomenon known as "differential attainment"). This could be due to examiner bias or to social, psychological or cultural influences on learning or performance. We investigated whether students' scores or feedback show influence of ethnicity-related bias; whether examiners unconsciously bring to mind (activate) stereotypes when judging Asian students' performance; whether activation depends on the stereotypicality of students' performances; and whether stereotypes influence examiner memories of performances. ⋯ Examiner bias does not appear to explain the differential attainment of Asian students in UK medical schools. Efforts to ensure equality should focus on social, psychological and cultural factors that may disadvantage learning or performance in Asian and other minority ethnic students.
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Comment Letter
Is it them or is it us? Unravelling ethnic disparities in undergraduate clinical performance.
Given our increasingly diverse societies, there is an urgent need for research into the causes of persistent ethnic disparities in undergraduate clinical performance. It is argued that causes for underperformance can be identified from two perspectives, namely that of the students ('them') and that of the academic environment ('us'). Taking the 'us' perspective, Yeates et al. conducted a detailed experimental study aimed at understanding the processes underlying judgment and decision-making in clinical assessments. ⋯ However, future work should also focus on other potential impeding factors from both perspectives, including differences in communication styles. Knowing what leads to the ethnic disparities in performance is a prerequisite for designing interventions aimed at ensuring a level playing field for a diverse student population. Please see related article: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0943-0.